Winchester Model 70 Stealth

              Winchester Model 70 Stealth & Stealth II

Stealth II - Image coutesy of U.S. Repeating Arms Company.

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Caliber:	5.56x45mm NATO (.223 Rem.) .22-250 Rem. 7.62x51mm NATO (.308 Win.)
Magazine:	5 round internal magazine
Overall length:	46.0" (1168mm)
Barrel length:	26.0" (660mm)
Weight:	10.75 lbs. (4.89kg)
Stock:	HS Precision Kevlar/fiberglass graphite stock with a full-length aluminum bedding block
Barrel:	Heavy Contour 26"
Barrel Twist:	RH 1:10"
Features:	Model 70 Action, Push Feed, Matte Finish, Pillar Plus accublock ™
Retail Price:	$785 USD (Street price is about $650 USD)

The Winchester model 70 Stealth is a direct replacement for their older "Heavy Varminter" and is advertised as a varmint rifle. But the solid black stock and matte black finish on all exposed parts lends itself well to tactical use. I figure this is the "politically correct" way USRA could build a tactical rifle. What ever the case, its a very nice entry level tactical rifle, and some think its the same as the FN Special Police. The quality of the rifles are fairly high for a production rifle, and accuracy is averaging around .65 MOA for these rifles with match ammo, with the typical rifles shooting between .5 and 1 MOA. That is the one big down side to mass produced rifles, you get a great rifle followed by a bad rifle, so be forewarned. The things I do not like about the Stealth is that it does not have the palm swell (like the Remington 700P) and it uses the push feed 70 action, I would prefer their claw feed, but the model 70 action is still a good action. I also prefer the wider trigger that is standard on the remington rifles. Overall, the rifle is good and will perform as well as remington and maybe even savage out of the box. There is a new serious player in the low end tactical rifle field.

Ruger M77 MkII VLE

                                               Ruger M77 MkII VLE


Ruger file photo

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Caliber	7.62x51mm NATO (.308 Win), 5.56x45mm NATO (.223 Rem)
Length	46.0" (1168mm)
Weight	9.51 lbs (4.32 kg) no optics
Barrel Length	26 inches (660mm)
Lands and Grooves	6
Twist, Right Hand	1:12"
Magazine Capacity	5 rounds
Sight	Integral Scope base and 1" rings included.
Stock	Greyed laminated wood
Accessories	Harris bi-pod included.

The Ruger M77 MkII VLE is Ruger's little known Law Enforcement tactical rifle. The rifle is based off of the M77 MkII VT target/varmint rifle but has a few changes. All the metal work is a flat black finish vs. the flat grey color of the VT rifles. The VT and VLE rifles have a laminated stock which is nicely contoured with a very wide forend. The VLE stock is different in that it is composed of darker grey colored laminates, vs the brown colors of the VT. Both rifles are the same beyond that. The barrel is a 26" medium weight barrel. The barrel is not as heavy as most tactical rifles, which keeps weight down a little. The trigger is a decent 2 stage trigger, which I personally prefer. The scope mounting system is typical ruger with the integral scope mounting rails for the provided rings to mount to. The VLE also comes with a Harris bipod standard which is a nice touch.

How does the rifle shoot? Well, they are typical ruger, you either have a sweet shooting tack driver, or a semi-accurate shooter. Ruger's are somewhat notorious for being hit and miss. Ruger claims that the VLE should consistently shoot sub 1 MOA with match ammo, and thats about right. On average, I would say they are a .75 - 1 MOA rifle. Also, while laminated wood is better then straight walnut, it will still shift more in weather changes then a synthetic stock. But I will admit that I like the contour. I also like the mauser style action and especially the 2 stage trigger, I wish more rifles were available with the 2 stage. The VLE is a reasonable cost rifle, at about $600 (give or take) but they are supposedly for LE only, and somewhat hard to find. Overall, not a bad rifle for the money.

Tac-Ops 700P Tune-up Package

Tactical Operations Remington 700P Tune-Up  Tac-Ops 700P
Caliber:	.308 Win (7.62x51mm NATO)
Barrel:	Remington Factory Heavy Contour, threaded for suppressor
Barrel Length:	20" (508mm) Cut down from factory 26"
Twist:	RH 1:12", 6 Grooves Remington factory
Empty Weight (with optics):	11 lbs (5.00 kg)
Overall Length:	40.75" (1035mm) In current configuration
Magazine:	5 round internal magazine
Trigger:	Remington factory trigger, reworked and set to 2.00 lbs
Stock:	HS Precision Synthetic (700P)
Finish:	Birdsong Black-T
Price:	Not currently taking orders
Update: 9 Mar 2009 - Tactical Operations has suspended these tune up packages due to a large influx of large firearms contracts for various government agencies. They plan to again start doing these tuneup packages for customers sometime in early 2010, possibly even later. They have asked that you do not call for additional information.  While many people, especially the 400+ Law Enforcement agencies who are their primary customers, know all about Tactical Operations rifles and their amazing .25 MOA guarantee, not many people realize that they will do a tune-up, or accurizing job, on a factory Remington 700P. In fact, it was news to us. So, a willing SC subscriber was good enough to provide his rifle for evaluation once Tac-Ops finished their work to the rifle. We were very curious to take a look at the rifle and see just what work was done, what features were added, and most importantly, how well the rifle performed!   The idea behind the concept is to send in your good ol' factory Remington 700P to Tactical Operations along with $1575, and you get back a better, more accurate rifle. The concept is not new, as there are several other well known rifle and barrel makers that offer the same type of service. But the real question comes down to "is it really worth it?" The recent Remington 700P's have been shooting down close to .5 MOA with some occasionally breaking that .5 barrier which is pretty good for a factory mass produced rifle, and accurate enough for most agencies. So is making it more accurate enough to warrant the money and rework? For this particular write-up, the customer actually took a new off the shelf standard Remington 700 SPS in 308 and sent it in. Tactical Operations then used a new 700P take off barrel and HS Precision stock from a 700P that was cannibalized for its action to build a Tango-51. Apparently Tac-Ops tends to have several barrels and stocks from 700P's laying around the shop. So, while the subject of this particular write-up was not a reworked 700P, the result is the same. There is not much else that needs to be said about the 700P as it is probably the most popular tactical rifle built in the world. The basics are the same, Remington 700 action, heavy 26" barrel with 1:12" twist, HS Precision stock, etc. It is the same barreled action that you will find on any of the 700 heavy barrel varmint rifles, the only difference is that the 700P has a parkerized finish instead of a matte blue finish. Tac-Ops believes that Remington really has something special going with their barrel making process as they continue to have great success using Remington factory heavy barrels to build some very accurate rifles. So, with the rifle in Tactical Operations hands, they get to work. The very first thing they do is check the barrel and action to insure it is suitable for a rebuild. A few Remington actions and/or barrels are out of whack and they will not tune up nicely, so they respectfully will decline the action or barrel if it does not meet the starting specifications. They will also not perform a tune-up on a LTR with the short fluted barrel, only the standard 700P 26" barreled rifles will they do this work on. They then take the standard Remington 700P 26" barrel and cut it down to 20". Tactical Operations is a short barrel fan for 308 rifles, and with the accuracy I have seen from their rifles, it is for a good reason. They will cut the barrel to other lengths per the customer's desire, but they WILL cut it down as part of the service is a new crown along with the threading of the barrel to a 9/16x24 class IIIA thread to accept a suppressor. They, obviously, provide a thread protector which is made out of 304SS. They also set the barrel back to zero and re-headspace using their reamer. A nice little no charge option is they will index the barrel so that the factory stamping is hidden under the stock. That has no functional purpose, it is just purely aesthetic. They also replace the factory recoil lug and install a Tac-Ops lug that is ground to 1/10th, or less, parallelism. In regards to the action, they perform their own custom blue print job to the action, face the receiver, install their special Mud Gutter, machine the rails by hand (not with a reamer), de-burr the action, machine the rear bolt lugs, front lugs, bolt nose and the bolt face. One thing that Tac-Ops never does is lap anything, it is all machined extremely precise. That is a lot of work to the action and it becomes apparent with the smoothness and operation of the action. In regards to the trigger, they will not touch the new X-Mark Pro triggers, they literally throw them in the trash and purchase a new "old style" Remington trigger, stone it and then set it to 2 lbs. They also apply one of the Tac-Ops bolt knobs which are very classy and functional. Finally, they ship the barreled action off to Birdsong and have their excellent Black-T/Green-T finish applied. While Tac-Ops are not very big fans of the aluminum bedding block stocks, they will ship it back in factory HS Precision stock. For an extra cost, they do offer the option of using one of their own fiberglass stocks with a Tac-Ops bedding job or even a McMillan for even a bit more money. The one important thing that comes with the use of one of these bedded fiberglass stocks is the .25 MOA guarantee!! They will not guarantee the .25 MOA with the factory HS Precision stock. A .25 guarantee from a re-work on a 700P is quite impressive. So, there are the details of what the service entails, and as you can see from the pictures, the end result is a very nice rifle that bares some resemblance to the original 700P, but is nearly a whole new rifle, and one we really like. Probably the single biggest thing that I really enjoyed was the exceptional smoothness of the action. All of that machining of the lugs, rails and other parts of the action really make the action cycle very smooth compared to a factory Remington 700 which I had side by side with it for a comparison. The Birdsong finish also adds a very nice touch as it is a very nice finish that is extremely functional and pleasing on the eye. The trigger on the rifle is lighter than I typically like on a tactical rifle, but it was also super smooth and broke exceptionally clean after a small bit of very smooth takeup. The overall feel of the rifle really is quite different from a factory Remington, everything is just smoothed and polished and much more pleasing. Of course, most all of these modifications are functional more than just for good looks and we needed to test the rifle out to see if it made an improvement. The rifle came from Tactical Operations with a Leupold 6.5-20 Mark 4 scope mounted with Leupold Mark 4 rings on top of, catch this, Sniper Central 22 MOA 2-Piece Bases. I was unaware that they were going to use a set of our bases on this project and apparently they really like them, which made us happy! Though they did send them off to Birdsong to have them Black-T'd as well, which does make them look very sharp and matched the rifle. The rifle came with a test target with two groups that were WELL below .25 MOA. They may not guarantee .25 MOA with the HS Precision stock, but by golly, they shipped the rifle with two test targets fired consecutively on the same piece of cardboard that were both below that. Now it was up to me to try and do the same.... though they fired their groups in 75 degree weather in So California, and I was in Montana in November.... um, shall I say a "bit" less than 75 degree weather? We fired the rifle on two different days, the first day was about 25 degrees (Fahrenheit) and the second day was around 40 degrees. On both days I was firing with a heavy jacket (no, not a shooting jacket) and with gloves on, welcome to Montana. I was not able to duplicate the performance of the test targets, and I contribute much of that to my shooting ability and shooting conditions. Though while I was unable to duplicate the sub .25 performances, I did get the rifle to shoot .34". Tac-Ops was a bit disappointed in my performance as the rifle was shooting "house on fire" for them. They did offer the following tidbit which I was unaware of:  "Guns with aluminum bedding blocks or pillars and steel guard screws can actually loosen slightly in cold temperatures. The coefficient of thermal expansion is near double for aluminum as it is for steel. It is always best to let your gun sit in cold weather for at least one night, and then torque the guard screws to specification, then zero the rifle."  Oops... I did not do that. In any case, the rifle still shot very well and functioned flawlessly through out the tests. The smoothness of the action continued to impress and the overall functionality of the rifle is excellent. Of course, with the 700P stock, you have the same limitations (short pistol grip) and positives (wide palm swell, though some do not like that) and of course you have the same normal Remington 700 traits and limitations (2 position safety, aluminum trigger guard), but the positives have sure been made better (already smooth action made smoother, accuracy improved even more). We fired the rifle with our .30 cal suppressor attached and the point of impact changed a little, as most rifles do when attaching a suppressor, and everything functioned as you would expect. The threading and thread protect is beautiful and fits exceptionally well. With the 20" barrel the overall package with suppressor attached is very handy and not ungainly. It would be a very good Law Enforcement package as well as military sniper rifle. The weight of the rifle is not bad at all, especially compared to most custom tactical rifles with McMillan stocks and very heavy barrels. The barrel, since it is a factory original barrel, is a 1:12" twist barrel, and just to check it out, we tried some HSM M118 175gr ammo through it and it shot it just as well, getting some of the best groups with this heavier ammo. The 1:12" is thought to be borderline for 175gr ammo, but in reality all the 1:12" barrels I have shot have stabilized the 175s without problem. The same was the case here. So, would this be something I would do to a 700P? Yes, I would. The price seems to be quite good considering what you get. The features that this tune-up includes, beyond just the accuracy improvements, are impressive and very functional. The Threaded barrel and Birdsong finish are two improvements that an agency may want anyway, and to get them as part of the package is a good proposition. It seems you are getting them at a discount in this case. I would say that what you get with this tune-up package is quite a good deal, but of course, $1500+ is nothing to shake a stick at, as you can get a complete 700P kit put together for that money, though this might be a very good upgrade path. Purchase the rifle, at a later date get the Tac-Ops tune-up, and then at a later date get one of their stocks and bedding job. Doing it this way would help spread the cost out making it a bit easier to live with.... and in the end; you have a .25 MOA guaranteed rifle that is a real gem.

Tac-Ops Green Hornet

Tactical Operations - Green Hornet
Calibers:	.22 LR
Barrel:	Ruger M77/22 w/integral Tac-Ops suppressor
Barrel Length:	17" (432mm)
Twist:	RH 1:14"
Empty Weight:	7 lbs (3.18 kg) w/scope
Overall Length:	37" (940mm)
Magazine:	Internal, 10 Round detachable rotary box magazine
Trigger:	Standard ruger, set to 3 lbs
Stock:	Tac-Ops modified ruger
Finish:	Green-T
Price:	Contact Tac-Ops for pricing
What is this? Sniper Central is reviewing a .22 LR? Well, yes we are, and for good reason. There is a demand for a means to take out lights and guard dogs when a tactical team is preparing for an entry. This little gem from Tactical Operations fills that role admirably. Tactical Operations has been building these rifles for a number of years now and supplying them to tactical teams around the world. What Tac-Ops does is take a standard ruger 77/22 and then cuts the barrel down and builds and mounts an integral suppressor. The suppressor looks like a standard heavy barrel but in reality is a very effective suppressor. The stock is also modified to fit the larger barrel and is coated in Tac-Ops own paint & epoxy finish, which provides fantastic grip in all weather conditions. There is a single swivel stud on the front and rear. Because of the thin forearm, the mounting of some models of bi-pods is not a perfect fit. All metal work is covered in the amazing Green-T product, and Tac-Ops has even mounted one of their large bolt handles for easy operation with gloved hands. The overall package is compact and wonderful to handle. Our review rifle has a leupold mark 4 PR 1.5-4x20mm scope mounted on top with the SPR reticule. We'll have a separate review of the scope, but we will state that this makes a very effective combination scope/rifle for its intended purpose. Tac-Ops are strong supporters of Leupold (as are we for that matter) and recommends Leupold optics for all their platforms. Because of the use of the factory sporter barrel and with the suppressor attached, and because its a .22, accuracy is not up to sniper rifle standard, but that is not the intended design of the rifle either. The purpose of this rifle is to take out porch or street lights and also the occasional guard dog when required. For this purpose, the accuracy and capability of the rifle is good indeed. Also, Tac-Ops related a story to us where a Green Hornet was used to shoot and kill a suspect who drew to fire at officers. As we all know, the .22 LR is deadly with a well placed shot. For this rifle, at 50y, the rifle will shot right about 1" groups. Beyond 50y, the .22 LR starts to suffer on any rifle, and as such struggles with this rifle also, but we were able to easily hit light bulb sized targets at 25 yards shooting from the offhand position.   The most amazing thing about this rifle is the suppressor and just how effective it is. We shot CCI green tag competition ammo per Tac-Ops recommendation, which shoots a 40gr bullet at 1070fps. With this ammo the acoustical results were amazing. Tac-Ops builds these rifles in two types, with velocity reducing ports and without. These ports insure that even supersonic .22 ammo becomes subsonice. Our evaluation rifle was fitted with these ports, and they work! The impact of the bullet on the target was FAR louder than any noise caused from the ignition of the cartridge. Just a simple "tick" is about all you hear. The goal is stealth, and the goal has been met! This rifle is a specialized rifle for a specialized mission that not all tactical teams require. But, the availability of such a tool may open the eyes of those teams that have not thought about the possibilities. For its intended mission, the rifle is fantastic, and not many people realize the level of expertise that Tactical Operations has in building suppressors. I have fired their .308, 22, 9mm and 223 suppressors of various varieties, and they have all been excellent. They even have suppressors for .50 BMG and 12g shotguns. If your team has need for a means to take out lights and guard dogs undetected, you should take a very serious look at the Green Hornet.

Tac-Ops Alpha-66

Tactical Operations Alpha 66
Tactical Operations Alpha-66 Tactical Rifle
All data below is for the rifle tested here. There are many options for these custom built rifles which can change the specifications.
Caliber:	.300 Win Mag (7.62x66)
Barrel:	Tac Ops proprietary chrome-moly steel Krieger, heavy contour
Barrel Length:	24" (610mm)
Twist:	RH 1:10" (300 Win Mag)
Weight (Rifle only):	14.1 lbs (6.41 kg)
Overall Length:	44.4" (1128mm)
Magazine:	4 Round Internal Box
Trigger:	Factory Remington 700 reworked by Tactical Operations
Stock:	McMillan Baker Special
Finish:	Birdsong Green-T
Price:	Around $4500 USD
It so happened that when we were reviewing the TacOps X-Ray 51 our own Alpha-66 that we have had on order for a while showed up. It is not usual for us to get two rifles from the same maker for review so close together. I would rather separate the time a bit, but I wanted to get this reviewed wrapped up and move onto the next. So why another TacOps rifle? With the push of combat snipers to higher powered cartridges and the announcement by the US Army to migrate their M24 SWS to the 300 Win Mag, I felt it was time to bring in a very high end 300 Win Mag for use here for evaluations with the 300 and to make sure we stayed on top of the game. After researching some options, I discovered that the TacOps Alpha-66 platform has been used by a number of the Alphabet agencies of the US Government and specialized military units. Since I have had such good luck with their products before, I decided to order one, specifying that it needed to be the same Alpha rifle employed by the operators in the field. They were happy to oblige and the project got under way. After a fairly long building period the rifle arrived with a test target and the standard guarantee of .25 MOA or better. If you have read our other reviews on the TacOps rifles you will know that all of their rifles are built using the Remington 700 action. TacOps sees nothing wrong with some of the new high quality tactical actions from the likes of Surgeon and others, but they continue to have such good success with the old tried and true Remington action and they have perfected their procedures, they do not see a need to use anything else and incur additional costs combined with having to revisit their procedures. While I like some of this new crop of custom actions, I value results and all of the TacOps rifles we have fired have produced results. Like all the other TacOps rifles, this Remington 700 long action has been completely worked over as normal and is extremely smooth operating. All of the finish work is exceptional and the Green-T finish is perfectly even like usual. Of course, as we specified in the Green-T review we did awhile back, the birdsong finish is specified as a standard in most of the government agency contracts, and for good reason. It is the standard finish that TacOps uses on all their rifles, and short of the follower, all of the metal parts on the rifle receive the Birdsong finish. This includes all of the spacer system on the stock. The barrel is a Kreiger Chrome Moly made to TacOps specifications in TacOps "Heavy" contour. The rate of twist is the standard 1:10" for the .300 Win Mag cartridge. In their 308 rifles, TacOps prefers the shorter 18-20" barrel length, but they use a 24" length for the 300 Win Mag to utilize the higher velocities of the cartridge. The barrel is threaded for a suppressor and is provided with a perfectly fitting thread protector to use when no suppressor is attached. The barrel is mated to the worked over Remington action with a precision ground recoil lug in between using a new proprietary system to reduce, or eliminate, any point of impact change from cold bore to warm bore shots. One thing that TacOps does differently with the 300 Win Mag is use a custom designed reamer when chambering the barrel. This reamer allows for a much tighter head space than you can normally do with the 300 Win Mag because of the magnum case head belt. This allows them to be able to squeak out some extra accuracy; the down side is that they recommend only shooting ammo with the 190gr Sierra Match King bullet. TacOps does have a custom reamer for the 220gr bullets as well, but ours came setup for the more common 190gr ammo. The barreled action is then pillar bedded into McMillan's "Baker Special" stock. With the heavy contour and longer barrel length, the stock is bedded up to a few inches in front of the recoil lug to help support the weight of the barrel. After that the barrel is free floated with a good amount of gap to help maintain free floating when in field and combat conditions. The McMillan "Backer Special" stock is not one of the normal A-series of tactical stocks from McMillan and is actually from their Target series. I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this stock as you do not hear much about it, but it must have something going for it, since it is in use in the field by some of the most elite units out there. As soon as I got behind the rifle it was apparent that the target shooters know what they are doing. The stock is excellent for prone shooting and provides a very stable shooting platform. The adjustable spacer system and cheekpiece allow you to get the stock perfectly fitted to you. The area around the magazine is a bit deeper than a normal rifle and this allowed for a full 4 rounds of 300 Win Mag to be loaded into the magazine. The stock then steps down to a wide and flat beavertail forend that is great for sandbags or other shooting rests, including a bipod. The stock is large, and as such, brings with it extra weight which you have to tote around the field. But that extra weight also helps stabilize the rifle and absorb recoil allowing for pleasant shooting and rapid follow up shots. Combined with the standard rough TacOps texturing, the stock gets high grades in my book. The overall weight of the rifle is heavy: a solid 14 lbs without optics. With our final duty scope we mounted - a Leupold 8.5-25x50mm LR/T M1 - the system is nearly 16 pounds, add a suppressor and it is even more. Yes, the rifle is large and heavy but for long range shooting the rifle is a great platform. As with many good rifles, getting it to and from your hide in stealth-like manner does require strength and endurance. The trigger is the standard old style Remington 700 trigger that has been reworked by TacOps. They do not use the new XMarkPro triggers as they do not like them nearly as much. The trigger was set to 2.5 lbs and breaks very cleanly with no take-up or over travel. Custom tuned triggers like these have a great feel to them and this one is setup just right. For the range work, we initially mounted one of our test mule scopes, a Leupold 6.5-20x50mm LR/T with target knobs. We also used this rifle as our platform to evaluate the Premier Reticle heritage tactical rifle scope. We then finally acquired the scope we plan to keep on the rifle permanently, a Leupold Mk4 8.5-25x50mm LR/T M1 with TMR that is common for these rifles in the field. The scope is mounted to the rifle with some 23 MOA bases to provide all the elevation adjustments we'll need to get out to about 1500 meters. During the shooting evaluation, we used a few flavors of ammo including the industry standard A-191 Federal Gold Medal Match 190gr at 2900 fps as well as the same load from HSM. We also tried the HSM D46 load that pushes the Lapua 185gr D46 FMJBT to 3100 fps which makes an extremely good long range load. Due to the restriction of 190gr ammo we did not try any heavy weight loads. For the accuracy test, all of the measured groups were fired at 100 yards. As you can see from the picture below, the rifle shipped with a test target from Tactical Operations that measured 0.099" center to center. While we did not equal that, we were able to go sub .25 MOA several times with a group of .19" and a few in the low .20's. Overall the rifle did like the Federal Gold Medal Match loads best of all with an average group size of .44" with all groups fired. The HSM 190's were not far behind. While the rifle did not like the D46 185's as much, they still hovered around the .7" mark. I know that all of those groups can be improved upon with some familiarity with the rifle and a better shooter than I. One thing I will note is that attaching a suppressor transformed the rifle for the better. Without it, the rifle is easily manageable and a good rifle to shoot, but with the 30 cal suppressor attached it is a joy to shoot and makes a fantastic long range sniper rifle. As mentioned above, the rifle is a very stable platform exhibiting exceptional accuracy with or without a suppressor attached. The reduced recoil and noise signature afforded by the suppressor only makes the rifle that much more effective in it's role. If your team or department is looking for a serious long range 300 Win Mag rifle, I recommend a serious look at the Alpha. The cost is a bit steep, and the rifle is no light-weight, but when setup with an effective suppressor, the Tactical Operations Alpha is an excellent platform that is a pleasure to shoot.

Tac-Ops XRay-51

Tactical Operations X-Ray 51
Tactical Operations X-Ray 51 Tactical Rifle
Caliber:	.308 Win (7.62x51 NATO) .300 Win Mag (7.62x66)
Barrel:	Tac Ops proprietary chrome-moly or stainless steel Krieger, heavy or standard contour
Barrel Length:	18-20" (610mm)
Twist:	RH 1:12"
Weight (Rifle only):	~12.0 lbs (5.45 kg)
Overall Length:	~42" (1067mm) dending on options
Magazine:	5 Round Internal Box
Trigger:	Factory Remington 700 reworked by Tactical Operations
Stock:	McMillan A5
Finish:	Birdsong Green-T and/or Black-T
Price:	Around $4500 USD
Over the years we have reviewed and used a good number of the Tactical Operations rifles and have been very impressed with their extreme accuracy and attention to detail. It has been a while since we completed a full evaluation of one of their main stream rifle models and there have actually been a few introductions of new rifles to their lineup since our last review. While there is not a lot of differences between the various TacOps models we still wanted to get our hands on a new production rifle to see if it still holds the same standards as before. One of our loyal readers again stepped up to the plate to help out and contacted us about reviewing his soon to be finished X-Ray 51 rifle. Since these rifles typically take 12-16 months to build, it was very much appreciated that he was willing to wait a bit longer to receive his rifle and let us review it. As was such, arrangements were made to have TacOps ship the completed rifle direct to us for a review after which we shipped it to the actual owner's dealer after we completed the review. As we have mentioned in the other TacOps reviews we did of their Tango, Bravo and other rifles, the core of the TacOps rifles is the Remington 700 action. Yes, the same tried and trued Remington that has been used as the base of so many tactical rifles out there. Why not a Surgeon or other modern interpretation of a Remington action? According to TacOps they prefer the simplicity of the original and they have become experts at working the standard Remington action and know exactly what they are getting. I do like the new custom tactical actions that have come to market over the past several years especially for their improvements to such things as the extractors, bolt releases, recoil lugs, integrated rails, etc. but it is hard to argue against results and the TacOps rifles have always delivered results. As you would imagine, the actions are extremely smooth to operate, they do this by taking the already smooth factory Remington action and machining and polishing all the running surfaces. The lubricating ability and micro thin properties of the Green-T finish also helps in these regards. This smooth cycling helps with rapid bolt manipulation for quick follow up shots and also provides a quality feel as well. Of course, for accuracy improvements every aspect of the action is trued to as precise as the TacOps machinists can make them. TacOps has a proprietary procedure that they go through when they "blueprint" the actions that they keep close to themselves. It is considerably more than the typical squaring of all the surfaces but they are not willing to divulge more information about their procedures than that. For the triggers TacOps actually prefers to use the old style factory Remington triggers instead of one of the available after market triggers. They take the Remington triggers and completely rework them by hand to get a very crisp and clean break. This one was set to break right at 2.5 lbs. Just be sure not to mention the Remington XMark Pro triggers around them, they are not a fan of these newer Remington triggers. The barrel comes from Krieger but they are made to a specific proprietary spec provided by TacOps. The chambers are cut at TacOps to a match headspace of .001" or better. They also use their own precision ground recoil lugs and their own crown design with a thread protector when the barrels are threaded for a suppressor, which is most of the time. Of course, all of the metal work is finished in either Green-T or Black-T applied by Birdsong. TacOps does not trust any other finish on their rifles. The stock on the X-Ray series of rifles is the McMillan A5 stock which has been a best seller at McMillan since its introduction. Again, paying extreme attention to fit and finish, TacOps takes the standard McMillan stock and refinishes it with their own application of a rough texture for all weather gripping and then a durable epoxy paint. Color options are limited to solid colors and typically are finished in green with the texturing done in black. They also do solid black and they even have done a few Tan stocks before. It would be nice at some point to have some other options such as camouflage patterns, but for now, solid colors are it. This particular X-Ray has the traditional TacOps green with black pattern and it looks good. The A5 stock is very comfortable with the vertical pistol grip and then the wider and not as tall forend than what is found on the A4 stock. The stock is not too bulky or heavy and provides a very nice balance of usability in the field. The heavy texture applied by TacOps does provide a very nice gripping surface for use in all weather conditions and combined with the extreme corrosion protection provided by the Birdsong finishes as well as mud grooves machined into the action, TacOps is making an effort for an all weather tactical platform. Their chambers are match chambers for better accuracy, which does make for tight tolerances and can be troublesome in "gritty" or dirty conditions, but the mud grooves help there. The barreled action is bedded into the stock using a traditional aluminum pillar glass bedding procedure with a free floated barrel channel. The barrel channel is fairly wide with plenty of gap to allow for more easily keeping the barrel channel clear and the barrel free floated while in the field. Part of the TacOps quality assurance procedure is to check for movement in the bedding with a micrometer after the bedding process is completed. If it does not meet their very high standards, the bedding is redone. One other, non operational thing I wanted to mention, and as you will see in the photo above, TacOps provides an optional engraving service on the floorplates. This, obviously, has no bearing on the capability of the rifle but does demonstrate the attention to detail standards they adhere to and does allow for a certain level of personalization. They can engrave their floorplates to just about any picture the owner imagines, and no, this is not done on a CNC or laser etcher. The engraving is done the old fashioned way, with hammer and chisel! I was amazed when I learned that. Look at the image engraved on this rifle and then think of the time and effort it took to perform by a guy using hand tools to accomplish it. TacOps says there are only a handful of people in the country still doing engraving like this. I believe it! So what do all of these details mean? It typically equates to a very beautiful rifle with very high levels of detail. Some people would like more custom options to be available but TacOps prefers to master a set of options and then provide as close to a perfect rifle as they can make. By diversifying and offering tons of other options they feel they loose their expertise in what they know. So there is only a limited number of calibers, stocks, barrel lengths, contours, colors, etc. But they try to provide you with the best possible rifle they can. Of course, the proof is in the pudding, or, in other words, show me the results. All TacOps rifles come with a .25 MOA or better guarantee and they like to see well under .25 MOA with their rifles before they leave the factory, the .25 is just the starting point. Every rifle is provided with a certification target to show the capability of the rifle when it left the factory and the certification target provided with this rifle measured 0.09" at 110 yards. Well, apparently the rifle can shoot, I only wondered if I could match the capability of the rifle! With the factory mounted Nightforce 5.5-22x56mm scope we headed to the range to see what kind of performance we could get out the rifle as compared to TacOps. We brought along some Federal Gold Medal Match and HSM 168gr Match ammo. We fired the rifle on two occasions both with and without a titanium suppressor attached. The average group was .358" with a best of .213". I had a few called flyer groups that I discarded and the rifle hovered right around .25 MOA (.26175") and when I focused on shooting the .25 MOA barrier was not a problem. I did not fire a lot groups as the rifle was a customer rifle but it certainly is capable of much better as is indicated by the certification target. Every TacOps rifle we have fired has not had a problem breaking .25 as they guarantee. To summarize this review, I have always been a believer in picking one thing and becoming an expert at it. That is the philosophy that TacOps has done with their rifles. They have become an expert at putting together their very high end rifle. No, they do not offer all of the various options and features that are out there, but there are other very good rifle builders that specialize in that, but if you want an extremely accurate rifle with a very high level of attention to the details, then a TacOps X-Ray 51 should be considered.

Dakota T-76 Longbow

                                                   Dakota T-76 Longbow

Image courtesy of Dakota Arms

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Calibers:	338 Lapua .330 Dakota Magnum .300 Dakota Magnum
Operation:	bolt action
Feed:	Blind magazine
Weight:	13.5lbs (6.136 kg)
Length:	50" - 52" (1270 - 1321mm)
Barrel:	LW-50 Stainless Steel with muzzle brake
Barrel Length:	28" (711mm)
Trigger:	Adjustable, set at 2.5 lbs.
Stock:	McMillan A2, Adjustable length of pull, Adjustable cheek piece, 3 swivel studs, and Parker-Hale stype bipod spike.

The T-76 Longbow was designed by Dakota Arms for military and law enforcement applications. It has a matte finish and the stock comes in black or olive drab. The cheekpiece and length of pull are adjustable. The action uses control round feeding and a claw extraction system, a Model 70-style trigger that will not seize from dirt or freeze in rain. The rifle has a highly effecient muzzle break, and with the .338 Lapua round, it needs it.

The longbow is an awsome weapon, Dakota even guarantees .5 MOA. The ergonomics of the design are sound, but the price is a little steep at about $4300 USD. If you can get over the price of the rifle, you have an amazing system. It even comes with a very useful deployment kit. In the right conditions, and with the right shooter behind it, the longbow is capable of 1400 meter shots, and even possible of shots approaching 1 mile (1609 meters) in perfect conditions.

Tac-Ops Bravo-51

Tactical Operations - Bravo 51

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Caliber:	7.62x51mm NATO (.308 Win.)
Action:	Remington M700, Accurized and blue-printed
Weight:	~11 lbs (5 kg)
Length:	44.3" (112.5cm) (depending upon barrel length)
Barrel:	Tac-Ops Match Grade, 18"-24" (457 - 609mm) Threading for suppressor optional.
Chamber:	Match spec with .001 head space.
Stock:	McMillan Fiberglass (McHale), Aluminum pillar bedded.
Trigger Pull:	2.5 lb or to Spec.
Metal Finish:	Bridsong Green-T® and Black-T®
Accuracy:	.25 MOA

My bravo-51 (with the given name 'KATE II') finally arrived from tactical operations, but let me tell you, the wait was worth it. This will not be a normal rifle review, as the Bravo has become my primary duty rifle, so it'll be an ongoing long term review, and will be updated as significant events happen. So lets get started!

The rifle was ordered as a package and included the following, all purchased from tactical operations:

Bravo-51 22" Heavy Tac-Ops barrel, threaded

Leupold Mk4 rings and bases Green-T® to match rifle

Leupold Mk4 M3 10X

Eagle Cheek Piece

Pelican Case

This represented a significant purchase for myself, and some may not think it is wise to use such an expensive rifle as a primary sniper system, but in my opinion, that argument doesn't hold water, as these rifles are designed to shoot, and thats what I plan to do with it!

Tac-ops is very big on 20" barrels, and with their accuracy guarantee on the tango-51 of .25 MOA with a 20" barrel allows them to be! Personally I like 24", and so we compromised and went with a 22" heavy barrel (vs. the varmint weight) of their own manufacture. I also went with an adjustable spacer system, and the verdict it still out on that decision. The fit is not perfect, but is not the fault of tac-ops, it is a McMillan problem, and tac-ops even made provisions to have McMillan attempt to swap out my specific spacer system if I wasn't happy with the fit. As of right now, I'll probably leave it as is, as its a fairly minor cosmetic blemish where the spacers line up a bit weird.

I went for the Leupold Mk4 M3 because my background is mostly military, and that is what I know. The M3 knobs are not great for real "precision" work when you need .25 or smaller adjustments. But they are great for unknown distance shooting (sniping) in the field. I went through the FBI SWAT sniper course using a M24 with a M3A on top, and I did just fine, though it was a disadvantage not being able to dial in a perfect zero at 100 meters. (I was about .5 inch high). But hey, I still shot 4th best in the class, so it wasn't a huge disadvantage. I put the BDC cam for the M118 ammo on the scope. This cam matches M118 perfectly, and M118LR and Fed 175gr Match perfectly out to 700 meters, where it then is 1 click off out to 1000 meters. This BDC cam also is set in meters, and not yards like the rest of their cams. I do everything in meters, so this works great.

The only ammo I will shoot regularly through the rifle is M118 and Federal Gold Medal Match 175gr. Which is very close to M118LR (20fps faster at muzzle), and easy to get ahold of. The M118 is not nearly the quality of the federal, but is still good enough to be deadly to 1000 meters, especially coming from this rifle.

Okay, on to the rifle. First thing first, the McMillan McHale stock is amazing. I do not know why more people are not sold on this stock, for military sniping, its really almost perfect. Of course this is my own opinion, but here is why I like the stock so much. 90% of our shooting is done from the prone or supported positions, the very wide forend of the McHale stock is great for supported shooting, and puts a lot of weight up front, for a solid placement, and firm feel. Combine this with the HEAVY barrel, and the rifle is extremely stable in recoil. Making follow up shots fast. The M24 is also great in this department, but I'd give the edge to the Bravo, because of the large bolt handle and short action, making rapid follow ups easier then the M24.

Speaking of the large bolt handles, I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I don't know why more rifle manufacturers don't use them. Combined with the rough epoxy texturing tac-ops does on their stocks, and the green-T finish makes these rifles true all weather weapons. Very nice to operate in all weather conditions and with gloves on.

The rifle has been zeroed with M118, and has been confirmed to 200 meters. The initial zero included barrel brake in, so I've not put that many rounds through the rifle. Everything is working flawlessly, and the trigger is amazing. No creep, no overtravel, and a crisp 2.5 lb letoff. I've been satisfied with groups with the M118. I'm down around .6 MOA, but the rifle hasn't even settled in, and with M118, that is pretty amazing accuracy. I'll be using federal gold medal match to get its true accuracy, which I suspect will reach sub .25 MOA. I'll also be chronographing the rounds to see how velocities are looking through the 22" barrel.

I have more pictures and more data coming....

UPDATE (05/08/02) Well, just to continue with the review of my current rifle. I went shooting to perform an ammo brand comparison in the Bravo. I had federal gold medal match 168gr, Hunting Shack Montana 175gr Match, and military (Lake City) M118. I wanted to see how the rifle digested each of the brands, and to perform an evaluation on alternatives to Federal Match ammo. This was a field condition evaluation, shot from the lower support of my ruck sack, from the prone position for all rounds. Conditions were less then ideal, and the shooting was at a measured 100 yards on private property that I have permission to use. The results were mixed with the M118 averaging .72 MOA. The hunting shack match ammo averaged .67 MOA and was more consistent. The Federal again set the standard with an average group of .33 MOA, and I easily acheived the .25 MOA Guarantee by Tac-Ops. Given better shooting conditions, I'm sure all groups would be below .25 if I do my part. The largest group I fired with federal match ammo was .40. Its extremely consistent, and the rifle is extremely accurate.

Tac-Ops Tango-51

                                      Tactical Operations - Tango 51

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Caliber:	7.62x51mm NATO (.308 Win.)
Action:	Remington M700, Accurized and blue-printed
Weight:	10.8 lbs (4.9kg)
Length:	44.3" (112.5cm)
Barrel:	Tac-Ops Match Grade, 18"-24" (457 - 609mm) Threading for suppressor optional.
Chamber:	Match spec with .001 head space.
Stock:	McMillan Fiberglass (Sako Varmint), Aluminum pillar bedded.
Trigger Pull:	2.25 - 2.5 lb or to Spec.
Metal Finish:	Bridsong Green-T® and Black-T®
Accuracy:	Guaranteed .25 MOA

Did I read that Accuracy Guarantee correctly? Is this rifle for real? Let me tell you that it is! Not only does it meet the accuracy guarantee, but it exceeds it, and that is with standard Federal Gold Medal Match 168gr, not handloads. Take a look at this 3-shot group that was shot in less then ideal conditions, at a rapid pace. Granted, things were clicking for that particular group, but sub .25 MOA is not a problem.is a photo of a group I shot at a recent review outing with the tango-51. It measured .22" center to center, and was shot on a hot day in So Cal, fighting mirage.

The rifle was featured in the April 2000 issue of SWAT magazine, where they stated "The Tango-51 is the most accurate rifle of its type that the author has ever fired". I have fired a LOT of different sniper rifles, and I would have to agree with the above statement. Several rifles I've fired will get down to .25 on occasion, but I was consistently doing it all day with the tango.

The rifle is based on a Remington 700 action that is blue printed to Tac-Ops specs. They use their own Tac-Ops stainless steel or chrome-molly match grade barrel. The head-space is adjusted to .001" or less. Tac-Ops also uses their own custom precision ground recoil lug. The standard remington trigger is jeweled and adjusted to a crisp 2.5 lbs. All metal parts on the rifle are finished with Bridsongs proprietary Green-T® and Black-T® finish which can be seen in the closeup shot below.

The stock is painted with an epoxy paint, and texture is applied if requested (this can also be seen in the picture above). A large bolt handle is standard (which I wish was more common on other sniper rifles). A lot of work goes into building these rifles, and the article in SWAT magazine goes into it fairly detailed, so I wont do it here. You can read the SWAT article at Tactical Operations home page tacticaloperations.com

These rifles are EXTREMELY accurate, and user friendly. Several large agencies both Federal and local have adopted the Tango-51 as their standard sniper rifle. One of these is the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB). They average about 200 call outs per year, and are one of the premier "Tactical" teams in the world. The SEB chose the Tango-51 because of its accuracy and ergonomics. I've talked with the head armorer at SEB, and he is extremely pleased with the performance of the rifles in the field. I've included several pics below of the SEB in action with the Tango.

On my review trip to tactical operations facility, I was able to shoot a tango-51 with and without a suppressor, plus several of their other weapons (silenced Berretta 92FS, silenced .22, suppressed M4, etc). The tango-51 perform flawlessly, and was deadly accurate. If I did my part, it did also. The mirage was playing tricks, especially if I fired anything more then about 3 shots with the can on. But thats always been a problem with suppressors on hot days when using optics. The suppressor did change point of impact about 3 MOA when you added or removed it. But it was the same everytime, just another entry to have in your logbook. Accuracy (when you were not fighting the mirage) was the same with or without the can. Some shooters shoot better with the can on because there is less noise to startle you, but I shot the same with or without it. The action is very smooth, and there was not the very stiff closing of the bolt normally found with rifles with tight action tolerences. The large bolt handle is very comfortable, and I wish they were on more rifles. (Tac-Ops will do it to a standard remington bolt if requested). Overall, the finish was stellar, the attention to detail on these rifles is amazing. While I was there, I was able to look at several rifles in the construction process and was very impressed. Nothing is overlooked with these rifles.

Am I impressed with these weapons? Yah, thats probably an understatement. I especially like their Bravo-51 that uses the McMillan McHale stock. In fact, I am impressed enough with the Tango-51 that I have not only decided to buy one, but have decided to go ahead and list their prices here on snipercentral. There is a new bar of excellence that top end rifles must try to meet. If you are interested in purchasing a Tango-51 for your agency, or for personal use, please click below.

Brown Precision Tactical Elite

                              Brown Precision Tactical Elite

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Calibers:	.223 Rem (5.56x45mm NATO) .308 Win (7.62x51mm NATO) .300 Win Mag Or any other caliber (Special Order)
Magazine:	Internal 3-shot (Magnums) or 4-shot (Standard)
Barrel Length:	Customers Choice
Weight (with scope):	Depends on options
Overall Length:	Depends on options
Stock:	Composite Brown Precision Tactical with 3-way adjustable buttplate/recoil pad assembly.
Sights:	Scope only
Features:	Based on custom tuned Rem 700 action, Shilen select match grade heavy benchrest stainless steel barrel, Black teflon finish, customer choice of trigger pull, optional muzzel break.

The Elite Tactical series is an excellent example of the fine custom sniper rifles that are available out there. This is a true custom rifle, where the customer can have the rifle custom made for them. This rifle can be made in ANY caliber, wildcats included. The accuracy and functionality of these rifles is SUPERB! They are tailored more toward the police arena, but if you are part of an elite military unit that can purchase non-issued sniper rifles for use, then some serious consideration should be given to the Brown Precision Tactical Elite rifle.

HS Precision Pro 2000 HTR

HS Precision Pro Series 2000 HTR

Heavy Tactical Rifle

Action Pro-Series 2000 Stainless Steel action Magazine Stainless Steel floorplate with detachable box magazine 4 rounds - standard calibers 3 rounds - magnum calibers Barrel Pro-Series 10X match grade stainless steel barrel, heavy barrel Fluted 24" (606 mm) Heavy Contour Optional muzzle brake Stock HS Precision Pro-Series, Tactical Style Full length bedding block chassis system Fully adjustable length of pull and cheek piece Choice of color Metal Finish Teflon® or Pro-Series PFTE Matte Black Weight 10.25 - 11.25 lbs Less Optics (4.66 - 5.11 kg) Calibers .308 WIN (7.62x51mm NATO), .300 Win Mag, 338 Lapua

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HS Precision (Thanks Patricia!) was kind enough to lend me a HS Precision Series 2000 HTR for evaluation while attending some additional sniper training. The three weeks in which I evaluated the rifle was both rewarding and exciting. The rifle was shipped with a Leupold Veri-X III 4.5-14x40mm Scope. Generally these scopes are of the highest quality, but for some reason this particular scope would not group worth a darn. I believe a serious drop or something happened during the shipment of the rifle. We were fortunate enough to have a second M24 on lone to our company for this training, and proceeded to replace the Veri-X III with the Ultra Mk4 M3A from the second M24. This corrected the problem, and the rifle shot beautifully for the remainder of the eval.

The stock on the Heavy Tactical Rifle (Referred to as HTR from here on out) is a work of beauty. It is fully adjustable for both length of pull and cheekpiece. The finish on the stock is a matte rough texture, and provides a very positive grip, and appears to be very durable.

The adjustment for length of pull is a much better design then the M24's stock (also made by HS Precision). There is no lock ring, just a hefty amount of friction to keep the length fixed. With all the shooting over a 3 week period, I never had a problem of the stock moving out of adjustment. I cannot say that with the M24. In fact, the locking ring system on the M24 is cumbersome, I sometimes ignore it and shoot at whatever setting the stock is at. (I know, thats not good practice, but I'm tired of fighting the stock, and it doesn't effect my shooting noticably). Of course, there is no comparison when it comes to the cheekpiece. The number one complaint of the M24 is indeed the contour of the stock, which DEMANDS a cheekpiece in order to get the eye level with the scope. 95% of the shooters need to add some type of cheekpiece to the stock. I'm no exception, and as you can see in the pic below, we have taped a piece of poly pad (The standard practice in the Army). The HTR has an adjustable cheekpiece that works great. The adjustment is held by friction, and I had no problems with this system either. Below is a picture of the M24 (top) and the HTR buttstocks.
This particular rifle had the optional buttstock height adjustment. Its a rest that screws into the palm grip, and extends down to the ground, allowing you to make very precise vertical movements. Its intended to replace the small "sand sock" that we place under the buttstock and squeez with our off hand. You can see in the following picture the "intent" of the design.
To be honest, I didn't like the design. There is a small plastic bumper on the bottom that got chewed up very fast (from recoil dragging it along the ground) and the large circular disk would recoil into my off hand (drawing a little bit of blood), and adjusting it was awkward, not nearly as fast and easy as my sand sock, and I was just as accurate with the sock. So the pic below shows where this device remained after the first day at the range.
Besides the little vertical adjustment device (which is optional anyway) the stock design is absolutely great. Its very comfortable, and very functional. The adjustments of LOP and cheekpiece height are top notch. I can only hope that the M24A1 (if there ever is such a model) will use this new stock.

The action was HS Precision's own Pro 2000 series of action. The tolerences were tight, with turndown on the bolt being stiff as you chambered a round. It is a short action for the .308 rifle, and the action has an excellent detachable box magazine. The magazine is of very durable stainless steel construction, and held 4 rounds or .308. The feeding was very smooth and positive.

The barrel is made by HS Precision and is their #10 Match Heavy Contour Stainless Steel barrel. It has deep flutes, is 24" long and is the same contour as the M24. The flutes shave about 1.5 lbs off the total weight of the rifle. HS has a solid reputation for their match grade barrels, they are the maker of the barrels for the USMC M40A1 rifles. Below is a comparison of the barrel on the M24 and the HTR.The trigger pull was smooth and broke with no over-travel at about 4 lbs. Of course it is fully adjustable, but was set up right about where I like it, so I left it as was. The rifle overall is lighter then the M24 by a noticable degree, and the rifle is not as barrel-heavy as the M24. This leads to quicker tracking, but also leads to more muzzle flip when shooting. The M24 is more suited for prone shooting, while the HTR is easier to shoot in alternate firing positions, more along the lines of what a Law Enforcement Sharpshooter would find himself/herself in.
At the Range
So how does it shoot? VERY WELL! Over the extended period of time in which I shot the rifle, it averaged about .8 MOA, and that is with M118 Special Ball, which is not match grade ammo. (Yes, a lot better then standard ball, but not near the quality of any of the major manufacturers match ammo) I did have the opportunity to run some federal gold medal match 168gr through the rifle, but it was before we had figured out the scope problem, so I can't report on it. A test target was sent with the rifle, and the computer readout indicated .17" group at 100 meters. With custom handloads, in a vice, yes, I believe the rifle can shoot that. With good match grade commercial ammo, you are going to see about .4 MOA, and that is more a shooter and ammo limitation. This rifle can really shoot!

Is it better then my issued M24 ? It depends. Yes, I like the detachable box magazine and the stock a lot better then the M24. They are head and shoulders better. The lighter weight is not that much of a concern to me, as I am used to carrying the 14.1 lbs (loaded) M24 every where. I do like the solid platform that the M24 offers, its very stable in the prone, and that helps aid in long range shooting. I also prefer the M24 trigger, it offers a wider textured trigger, which allows for a more sensitive trigger pull, and its easier to adjust. Overall, the HTR would probably get the edge, primarily do to the awsome stock design. Put the same stock on the M24, and I would be in heaven.

Conclusions
For a list price of $1900, the HTR is every bit worth the money, in fact, I might consider it a bargain! Its one of the nicest rifles I have shot, and the stock is second to none. Would I use it as a primary sniper rifle? ABSOLUTELY! It shoots very well, handles well, and is durable. There are a few things I don't particularly like, but they are minor. If your looking for a high quality sniper rifle you can depend on.... The HS Precision Pro 2000 HTR gets my recommendation.